Transitioning into an ethical lifestyle for many begins at home. In addition to recycling, many donate clothes, eat locally sourced foods, practice mindfulness, and pay attention to their beauty and household products. Although fashion comes into play at some point, fine jewelry wearers consider the compromises of continued use.
If you are living a sustainable lifestyle and avoid the compromise of wearing your traditional luxury or fine jewelry, continue reading. Here you will discover what sustainable jewelry is and learn five things about it.
What is Sustainable Jewelry
Sustainable jewelry, also called ethical jewelry, is made with a minimal impact on people and the environment. Those factors get considered in every step of its processing. Sustainable jewelry encourages quality over quantity of customer consumption.
Because it is sustainable jewelry, it is beneficial to everyone. Those moving towards a more ethical lifestyle can remain environmentally conscious, and those who make it can do it without sacrificing the environment. In addition, there is no compromise for those who love the environment and the luxury of fine jewelry and style.
Unlike traditional jewelry with a large carbon footprint and significant environmental impact, sustainable jewelry uses recycled materials and materials made in a lab. Overall, the planet is better for the creation of sustainable jewelry.
Some things to look for when purchasing sustainable jewelry include:
- The entire lifespan of the piece
- What materials it is made from
- Where and how those materials were sourced or extracted
- Who touched the pieces
- What will happen to them when you are done with them
Here are five more things that you should know about sustainable jewelry:
1. It Has Supply Chain Transparency
Supply chain transparency means businesses know what is expected to happen at every stage of the supply chain. In addition to that material-making process getting communicated clearly, the information is factual and can be backed or traced internally and externally by operations. For sustainable jewelry, transparency is the only way for buyers and consumers to ensure their piece is ethical and sustainable.
For jewelers, being able to trace an item of jewelry and its raw materials is crucial. That is how they can guarantee responsible sourcing to their clients and ensure that the highest ethical standards get adhered to.
2. It Uses Recycled Stones And Metals
Sustainable jewelry is made from recycled gold, silver, gems, and stones – giving the materials a second life. Those materials can be melted down without losing their value. However, that doesn’t mean that the holistic view of sustainable jewelry doesn’t get heavily scrutinized.
That includes logistics and technologies that address jewelry’s environmental, social, economic, and legal aspects. That process is known as supply chain sustainability or SCS. An SCS certification for recycled stones and metals is the ultimate rating for sustainable jewelry for sustainable jewelers and customers.
3. It Uses Low Impact Processing
Gem cutting is often a high-impact part of jewelry making. That is because microscopic dust is created between cutting and polishing jewelry, damaging the lungs. Traditional jewelry typically has low ventilation or safety gear in factories.
4. It Is Grown In A Lab
It may seem obvious that sustainable jewelry is grown in a lab. It is produced using heat and pressure. However, much lab-grown jewelry gets created with either a High-Pressure, High-Temperature system or a Chemical Vapor Deposition system. The benefits are that:
Many sustainable jewelers are certified carbon neutral
Many sustainable jewelers use renewable energy to power their labs
According to Michael Gabriels, a sustainable fine jewelry company, “to the naked eye, there is no difference between mined diamonds and lab grown diamonds.” Therefore making sustainable fine jewelry as desirable as traditionally made jewelry.
5. It is Priced Fairly And Made To Last
While sustainable fashion and home goods can sometimes be priced higher than traditionally made items, sustainable jewelry is priced moderately and made to last. Instead of being marked up between 6 to 15 times their production costs like traditional pieces, sustainable jewelry is usually priced only 2 to 4 times production. Rather than pass production costs on to the consumers, ethical jewelers would work on innovation to make it even less expensive.
Conclusion
As you have read, many recognize the damage created to the planet by the traditional production of goods and products. Therefore, they transitioned to living more ethically. Today, unlike in the past, jewelry wearers don’t have to be compromised by wearing traditionally made jewelry pieces.
The above explains sustainable jewelry and lists five things you should know about it. Sustainable jewelry makes it possible for those who love luxury or fine jewelry to wear it without compromise.
